A/N: Okay, might have lied if I said most of these chapters were mostly in Mercedes' point of view. I was actually going to have both of their points of view in one chapter but I realized that this chapter would be basically twice as long as the previous three chapters. But that's just good news because that means the ball is still rolling plot-wise! Enjoy!
Sam was dragging his feet out of the athletic building by himself. Coach was working him especially hard, going through more drills and discussing plays long after the rest of the team called it a day. He was lucky that he managed to get out of there before seven today.
He noticed that Damon, Chad, and Zach were still chatting by the building gate entrance so he caught up with them. "Can I just call in sick for just one day?" Sam groaned as he rotated his right shoulder. The heavy backpack that he was carrying wasn't helping. It was just three weeks into the semester and he was already slammed with homework. It was a wonder that he actually could survive the fall semester with everything that was on his plate.
"Nah man," Damon slapped his back. "Keep that energy up. We're gonna need it for the Simpson game. The big 'un!" He threw a Tiger uppercut.
Sam sighed, "It's my luck that the Simpson game is the same week that my midterm papers are due. Dr. Chalmers will not be cutting me any slack."
Zach scoffed, "Same with my Calc test, but do I really care? Nope!"
Sam frowned, "Well, you should. It's your senior year, graduating is more important than one big game..."
"Well, I'm sorry I ain't some big nerd like you are, Sunshine." Zach shrugged and smiled at his teammate.
The word 'nerd' doesn't even begin to cover it. Sam laughed to himself.
Damon stopped for a moment, looking into the distance. "Hey, it's those singers."
Chad nodded, "Oh yeah, the Goldtones. That version of Freebird they did last year kicked ASS... Yo, Sam, where you going?" He saw Sam walking ahead of them.
"I want to watch." Sam replied nearly jogging over there. It wasn't long before he got to the amphitheater. There was a crowd of people already gathered, most of them sitting out on blankets in front of the stage jamming along with the music. The Goldtones were singing a jazzy rendition of Super Bass. Most of the singers were jumping around and dancing. Some people in the crowd were dancing with them. Sam couldn't help but smile. It reminded him of his days with the Glee Club. Some of the best moments of his life were performing with the New Directions. It was exhilarating singing and dancing your heart out with your friends.
Once he stopped his reminiscing, Sam got to thinking about the reason he hurried over here. He scanned the group singing on the stage but there was one person missing. Mercedes. He bit his lip. He swore she would be there. There is just no way a girl like her would not be in a group like this. They would be fools not to have her as a member.
Soon enough, the Goldtones finished the number and the crowd burst into applause and hollering. One of the girls in the group stepped forward. Sam recognized her as the girl who was with Mercedes the day that he saw her for the first time in years.
The blonde waved to the crowd enthusiastically. "Thank you everyone and welcome to the Goldtones' first performance of the semester. If you're new here and don't know us, we're Richter's pride and joy... well, second to our football team." The crowd and Sam's friends chuckled. "Our group is both an acapella group and a show choir with the sole purpose of presenting you all some awesome music. We have some of the best voices in the area and speaking of the best voice... you are all in for a huge treat." She smiled brightly. "The Goldtones are proud to introduce our newest member, transferring in from Byrnes University, she is a very close friend of mine, the sweetest girl you'll ever meet with a heavenly voice to match. I say this without bias and the other Goldtones will agree with me, this girl can SING. You may not hear a better performance in your life! But here I am rambling! So without further ado, I present... Miss Mercedes Jones." She waved an arm towards the right side of the stage and stepped aside.
Sam's chest was already swelling with pride from the introduction. None of what she said was an exaggeration. He was blown away by her talent the very first time he saw the New Directions perform at lunch that one fateful day years ago. No one could sing like Mercedes.
He felt someone lightly hit his arm. "Hey, Sunshine, isn't that the girl you were talking to that one time? The one you have a 'history' with?" Damon asked.
Sam watched as Mercedes walked on stage and took her place behind the mic stand. As the sun was setting, the spotlight shining down on her was especially bright. With her long hair in waves, her golden brown satin dress, and her big smile, she was simply glowing. "Yeah... that's her." He replied absently.
The band behind her started playing the opening line and then Mercedes began with a powerful note. She was singing Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness." Sam swore he could feel his heart stop for a moment.
As the song picked up tempo, his friends were nodding their heads to the music. "Wooo, that girl can SAAANG!" Zach crooned.
"Damn, you had THAT girl, Sam?" Chad asked.
But Sam didn't answer. He wasn't listening. In fact, he wasn't really there. Sam wasn't at Richter at the moment. He was sitting in a seat in the back of the McKinley High School auditorium watching Mercedes singing her heart out to Mr. Schue and Jesse St. James for a solo audition. He was there because Mercedes was his ride back to the motel, and she was also going to babysit Stevie and Stacey while he went to work at the pizza place.
From the day Mercedes went to his motel room to personally give him her most sincere apologies for accusing him of things he didn't do... to that magical night when he danced for hours with a gorgeous woman in a fuchsia dress... to the nights when he and Mercedes would just simply talk for hours by her car in the motel parking lot... he could say that they had become really close friends. Other feelings that he didn't think he could simply label as "the bond of friendship" might have crossed his mind a time or two... actually all the time, but he wasn't sure about them. Especially after two relationships that failed miserably, he was almost scared of the idea.
But it was at this very moment that those fears were destroyed. Sam sat there, his hands unknowingly clutching the armrests with a vice grip, his heart was pounding, his mouth was hanging open, his eyes were trained on that one girl on stage pouring her heart out into the music. No girl was ever able to move him the way that Mercedes Jones was doing at the moment.
When the song ended and Jesse gave his unreasonable criticisms, Sam's awe soon changed into anger. Before he could get around to thinking that he should go over there and punch Jesse St. Jerk in the face, Mercedes marched off the stage, knocking over the mic stand in the process. Sam ran to the exit to catch up with her. It wasn't until she was out the front door to the parking lot that Sam got to her.
Once Sam put a hand on her shoulder, Mercedes swiftly turned around, knocking his hand off. "That asshole told me-"
"I heard." Sam interrupted quietly. "And it was completely stupid. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He was just making excuses. You were amazing, Cedes..." He said with complete sincerity.
Mercedes sighed and shook her head. "Well, apparently not amazing enough. Not enough for them to stop giving Rachel all of the big solo parts."
Sam placed both of his hands on her shoulders and leaned down so that he was eye level with her. "Cedes, believe me, the number of solos you get doesn't prove how awesome you are as a singer. You blew me away with your singing just now and I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who thinks that when they hear you. I think how you make others feel when you sing is more important than whether or not you get a solo. So whatever they decide, it really doesn't matter. Okay?" He gave her a small smile.
Mercedes looked up at him with eyes filled with emotion. They showed graciousness for his support but they still revealed some uncertainty. Sam fought the urge to lean forward and kiss those uncertainties away. He settled for pushing a stray hair away from her face. He noticed how soft her face was as his fingers gently grazed against it.
Sam let out an uneven sigh as he tried to ignore the pounding in his chest that came back. "Come on, Stevie and Stacy are waiting for us." He gave her a big smile.
Mercedes smiled weakly, "Yeah, remind me, I have a few of my Disney DVDs in the back of my car for them."
Sam laughed and threw an arm around her as they walked to her car. "They'll love it."
Sam would learn later that in the parking lot that day, he wasn't the only one whose heart was beating fast after his little speech and he wasn't the only one who had to fight the urge to lean in for a kiss.
All of a sudden, Sam felt a shove that nearly made him fall over.
"Earth to Sunshine!"
He was back at Richter. He saw that Mercedes just finished her solo and that the whole crowd was giving her a standing ovation. The smile on her face was as bright as the spotlight. Sam couldn't help but smile back. For a moment, he thought that her eyes met his for a moment. He hoped so because he just wanted to be able to tell her with that look that he was so proud of her... he always was.
"Forget it. The boy is hypnotized." Chad mumbled.
Sam turned around. "No, I'm not."
Damon chuckled, "Yeah, you were. If that song went on any longer, you might have started drooling! Your mouth was hanging open!" He jokingly demonstrated.
Sam turned away to hide a blush. He needed to make sure that the next time the Goldtones were going to have a performance, that he was nowhere near his friends. He knew that he'd always look like a sappy mess if Mercedes kept singing like that.
A/N: I promise that the next chapter will actually have more Samcedes interaction in the present and we'll have more on Mercedes as well. Please please PLEASE drop me a little review! They are really appreciated! Thanks for reading!